PART C-CASE-BASED QUESTIONS This part contains THREE questions. Please read the article below and answer all questions. (40 marks in total) Coca-Cola Life Of the hundreds of Coca-Cola brands, a great number are sold only in a few countries. Sokenbicha, for example, is a Japanese tea product sold only in Japan and in selected U.S. markets. Over the years, a number of Coca-Cola products arrived on the shelves, only to disappear a few months later. These include Coke Blak, Coke Vanilla, Coca-Cola with Lemon or with Lime, and many others. Some of these might have been launched for tactical reasons: to shake up consumer preferences, encourage loyal Pepsi drinkers to try a new flavor, grab shelf space, and so on. But three cola brands have, for years, been positioned as the "big three" in most countries: Coke, Diet Coke, and Coke Zero Sugar. Unlike some of the smaller brands listed above, these three are considered strategic brands, globally important and managed centrally by corporate headquarters. Since 2013, there has been an attempt to add a fourth global brand, Coke Life. Originally developed by Coke researchers in Argentina and Chile, this drink uses stevia as an all-natural sweetener, uses much less sugar than regular Coke, and has no artificial sweeteners. The product was initially launched in Argentina and Chile and slowly rolled out to the global market. A little background on this launch is required. Although Coke remains a profitable brand for the Coca- Cola company, soft drink sales have been on the decline for some time. The company has responded in several ways: investing in nonsparkling beverages such as bottled water, tea, and fruit juice and making package size changes to their soft drink lines to align better with customer preferences. But another response has been to consider the trend toward calorie counting. As far back as 1982, Coke launched Diet Coke, a sugar-free version originally sweetened with aspartame and now using NutraSweet. (In other countries, aspartame and/or other sweeteners may be used.) In 2005, Coke Zero was rolled out. This also contains artificial sweeteners but is claimed to be closer in taste to Coke (Diet Coke has a somewhat different flavor). By 2017, Coke Zero was reformulated and renamed Coca-Cola Zero Sugar. While the actual mix of sweeteners varies from one market to another, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, like Diet Coke, is sweetened with only artificial sweeteners. This brings us to the Coca-Cola Life launch. With three cola products on the market, Coca-Cola felt there was room for a product that delivered full taste and few calories, while still being all-natural with no tificial sweeteners. In Argentina and other South American countries, stevia (an all-natural sugar bstitute derived from plants) was already popular, and Coca-Cola rolled out the new Coca-Cola Life duct. This does contain some sugar as well as stevia, but it contains only about 60 percent of the ories of Coca-Cola (about 27 calories per 100 mL). Time Allowed: 3 Hours The product was first sold in Argentina in June 2013 and then in Chile in November 2013, positioned as a award-winning commercial. Coca-Cola Life's packaging was mostly green. drink for healthy lifestyles. The original Argentinian ad, showing a young couple raising a child, was an the U.K., as well as the United States (but in relatively limited distribution). By 2015, it was in France. Coca-Cola chose to roll out Coca-Cola Life slowly into the global market. In 2014, it entered Sweden and Australia, and several other markets. By 2018, it was in about 40 markets worldwide. about two years, due to low sales, and replaced with a similar product, Coca-Cola with Stevia, which Coca-Cola Life has had mixed success in its first five years of existence. It was dropped in Australia after contains more stevia and less sugar than Coke Life. Similarly, in the U.K., after the 2014 launch resulted in low due to continued slow sales coupled with an uptick in Coca-Cola Zero Sugar sales in the U.K., Coke Life was discontinued there in 2017. Interestingly, blind taste tests in the U.K. found that people preferred Life to other Coca-Cola products. C-1. To forecast a new product's sales at early phase of a new product development process, one should consider product and market newness when selecting the most appropriate forecasting model. Please draw a matrix to illustrate four types of innovation based on market and product newness. (15 marks) C-2. Based on the matrix in C-1, which type of innovation does Coke Life belongs to? Which model should Coca-Cola use to forecast the sales of Coke Life before it is launched? (5 marks) C-3. Based on information provided in the article, draw a gap analysis map and identify the four Coke products (Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Life, and Coke Zero Sugar) in the map. Use your gap map to explain why Coca-Cola decided to develop Coke Life. (20 marks)